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The Buzz: Retail workers are furloughed by the thousands this week

Unemployment claim guidelines are changing as both state and federal governments ease rules for those who have been laid off or furloughed.(Photo: Getty Images)

Retailers put hundreds of thousands of store employees on furlough around the country this week.

The difference between a layoff and a furlough is that a layoff might be permanent, while a furlough is considered temporary unpaid time-off with the expectation that the employee will return to work.

While furloughed employees don’t get paychecks during the furlough period, they’re still considered to be employees and often still get benefits paid by their companies during this time.

On Monday, Macy’s, Kohl’s and Gap Inc. announced furloughs of nearly 125,000, 85,000 and 80,000 employees respectively. Here, Gap is parent of Old Navy and Banana Republic.

On Tuesday, JCPenney announced furloughs of a “significant portion” of its hourly store employees in a news release. It has a global workforce of 90,000.

“The peak of the virus in the United States is yet to come, and we are unable to determine a reopening date that will be safe for our associates, customers and communities,” JCP said. “Our intent is to welcome associates back to work when the pandemic subsides and our operations resume.”

Beyond layoffs and furloughs, a third category of job loss is "riffed," or “reduction in force." It's the term for positions eliminated permanently with no possibility of recall, according to SHRM, a professional organization of human resource managers.

The $2.2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package “Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security” signed at the federal level Friday includes about $250 billion in unemployment benefits.

States are currently sorting out what this means for laid-off and furloughed employees as well as part-time workers, self-employed and freelancers or contractors.

In Wisconsin, the Department of Workforce Development's information to claimants page says its waiting for guidance from the Department of Labor.

"Once received, we will program our systems to accommodate the changes. It will take several weeks to receive all of the information from the federal government," it states.

Wisconsin’s legislature is also mulling over repeal of the requirement to wait one week before unemployment benefits kick in.

"(Gov. Tony) Evers waived the need to do job searches, but he had to ask the legislature to waive the one-week waiting period because it is baked into state law," said Anthony Snyder, chief executive officer of the Fox Valley Workforce Development Board.